An Eye-Opening Experience
Colby students share tree-coring skills and their passion for the environment with central Maine school kids
Students in Associate Professor of Earth Sciences Bess Koffman’s Earth’s Climate: Past, Present, and Future course recently shared their tree-coring skills and climate knowledge with young students from the Kennebec Montessori School in Fairfield.
As part of their commitment to working with the community, the Colby students led the young learners on an exploration of the trees at the school playground. They used a tool known as an increment borer to extract core samples from trees, then returned to the classroom to examine the samples and determine the age of trees by counting annual growth rings and measuring ring widths.
The hands-on exercises introduced the grade-school students to a practical method for extracting information to learn about the past and present of the natural environment, and to think about and predict the future. For the Colby students, it was a chance to share their wisdom and interest in the environment, interact with members of the community, and spend time outdoors.
